I’ve only seen Alan Hale in five films: Destination Tokyo, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Sea Hawk, The Prince and the Pauper, and It Happened One Night (and the last two are smaller supporting roles) and yet I love him to death, he’s one of my favorites. He appeared in 203 movies between 1911 and 1950 (three of them released in the last year of his life; impressive considering he died in January) and also directed eight, mostly during the silent era. But, wait, that’s not all! He also invented the folding theater seat, hand fire extinguishers and greaseless potato chips, or so says Leonard Maltin. [ETA: He was also in Of Human Bondage, which I've seen, but I totally do not remember him.]
When I say Alan Hale you probably think of The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island; that was Alan Jr., who became known as plain Alan Hale after his father’s death. They looked a lot alike, and had the same cuddly-guy kind of appeal (although Alan Sr. did play more than a few heavies in his career, but it never detracted from his ability to play nice guys, too). Alan was a featured member of the Warner Brothers Stock Co., their group of character actors from the 1930s and 40s (if I find out who any of the others are, I’ll let you know). Another notable fact about his career is that he had a supporting or cameo role in twelve of Errol Flynn’s movies.
Of the two of Alan’s larger performances that I’ve seen (Tokyo and Robin Hood) I can’t pick a favorite, so they’ll tie for first. In Robin Hood, he plays Little John, and if you see the movie you’ll find out where Warner Brothers got the "dodge! turn! parry! spin!" scene from that Daffy Duck/Porky Pig cartoon (which is an extra on the RH DVD). He’s jolly and adorable, basically, just as he is in Destination Tokyo, as the submarine’s "Cookie." When he dresses up as Santa to give presents to the crew, I just wanted to hug him. The haircut scene is also very funny.
The first role I ever saw him in was that of the singing driver "Danker" who picks up the hitchhiking Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in IHON. ("A woman in looooooooove is very seldom hungryyyyyyy..." Hee.) He had a wonderful voice, and in fact attempted a career as an opera singer before becoming an actor.
Alan was married to Gretchen Hartman (also an actress) and had two other children besides Alan Jr., although I don’t know their names or anything about them. He is buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, Whispering Pines section.
P.S. Quick story about Alan Jr. from the IMDB that totally made me cry: While battling cancer, he lost a lot of weight. When a child inquired about his weight loss, Hale simply told him that he was going to be playing Gilligan in a new Gilligan's Island show. I get all squishy inside when I hear stories like this about the ol' Skipper. He was my absolute favorite on Gilligan's Island.
Next up for CAIL, I think maybe Walter Connolly, everyone's favorite father-to-the-socialites.
When I say Alan Hale you probably think of The Skipper from Gilligan’s Island; that was Alan Jr., who became known as plain Alan Hale after his father’s death. They looked a lot alike, and had the same cuddly-guy kind of appeal (although Alan Sr. did play more than a few heavies in his career, but it never detracted from his ability to play nice guys, too). Alan was a featured member of the Warner Brothers Stock Co., their group of character actors from the 1930s and 40s (if I find out who any of the others are, I’ll let you know). Another notable fact about his career is that he had a supporting or cameo role in twelve of Errol Flynn’s movies.
Of the two of Alan’s larger performances that I’ve seen (Tokyo and Robin Hood) I can’t pick a favorite, so they’ll tie for first. In Robin Hood, he plays Little John, and if you see the movie you’ll find out where Warner Brothers got the "dodge! turn! parry! spin!" scene from that Daffy Duck/Porky Pig cartoon (which is an extra on the RH DVD). He’s jolly and adorable, basically, just as he is in Destination Tokyo, as the submarine’s "Cookie." When he dresses up as Santa to give presents to the crew, I just wanted to hug him. The haircut scene is also very funny.
The first role I ever saw him in was that of the singing driver "Danker" who picks up the hitchhiking Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert in IHON. ("A woman in looooooooove is very seldom hungryyyyyyy..." Hee.) He had a wonderful voice, and in fact attempted a career as an opera singer before becoming an actor.
Alan was married to Gretchen Hartman (also an actress) and had two other children besides Alan Jr., although I don’t know their names or anything about them. He is buried in Forest Lawn Glendale, Whispering Pines section.
P.S. Quick story about Alan Jr. from the IMDB that totally made me cry: While battling cancer, he lost a lot of weight. When a child inquired about his weight loss, Hale simply told him that he was going to be playing Gilligan in a new Gilligan's Island show. I get all squishy inside when I hear stories like this about the ol' Skipper. He was my absolute favorite on Gilligan's Island.
Next up for CAIL, I think maybe Walter Connolly, everyone's favorite father-to-the-socialites.
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